Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Gymnastics

The girls are trying something new this summer…..gymnastics! Riley told me after her first session of dance that she did not want to do it again. I could tell she loved the tumbling part of their community dance classes so I thought maybe I’d steer her that direction. And frankly, “dance mom” is not something I ever want to be so I was happy to give her an alternative.

We visited a couple of gyms some friends had recommended and as soon as we walked into Elite Gymnastics in Savage Riley was sold! She wanted to start that day. Ellie looked around for a bit longer and watched some of the older girls doing flips and decided she’d try it too.

I signed them both up for a 10 week summer program. The 10 o’clock class I wanted was full but they said they would make a 9:30 class for me if that would work. It did and it turns out my two girls are the only two kids in the class! They are getting tons of hands on attention!

I couldn’t get a non-blurry picture but this will do. Riley was just about to somersault down the wedge mat and Ellie was getting help with her cartwheels. The red and blue platform in the back is a tumbling trampoline that is about twice that length shown. The girls do a lot of work on the trampoline perfecting various jumps. They also spend time doing flips over bars, balance beam walking, parallel bars, rings, monkey bars, and back bends. In addition, she has them doing pull-ups and sit ups! It is one jam-packed hour of highly physical actions for these girls. Ellie is wiped out after every class and Riley’s energy is dulled a bit.

So far they are both enjoying it and look forward to going each week. They like that they are together in class. I like that they are getting stronger and learning to listen closely to directions. Their teacher does not accept less than what she asks and will have them re-do something if they don’t follow her directions (ex: “walk back to the starting point on the carpet, not the mats”)

Aside from their coach calling Ellie “Allie” (she’s from Russia…Ellie corrects her every time and every time she says “Allie”) they have no complaints and neither do I!

Austin sits with me during the hour and every once in awhile he throws out a suggestion that maybe he’d like to do this too. We’ll see…

About Me

I'm living life one day at a time and doing my best to get the most out of each day. I stay at home with my three entertaining kids and pretend to be "Susy Homemaker". I have a passion for finding a good deal and passing it on, I'm recently addicted to party planning, and enjoy sharing tasty and easy recipes for other busy families. I hope you enjoy my random dribble!